


Into the Woods

by kitkatt0430



Series: Folk Heroes [3]
Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Estelle continues to be a practical princess, Gen, Hints of Yuri/Flynn, Karol is a very polite thief, Lesbian Estelle, One-Sided Attraction, Welcome to the Quoi Woods, Yuri ain't afraid of no cursed forest, Yuri is starting to like this about her, Yuri is very irritated with Flynn, Yuri's got some ptsd about Shizontania, because this is definitely all Flynn's fault, by which I mean Yuri thinks his attraction to Flynn is one sided, cursed forest?, he might however be concerned about whatever gave the forest a reputation for being cursed, not that Flynn is around right now...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27410632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430
Summary: When Deidon Hold proves to be a less than ideal stopping point on Yuri and Estelle's escape from Zaphias to Halure, the two have to back track some and head up to the supposedly cursed forest: the Quoi Woods.  And while Yuri runs into an unexpectedly familiar face (or two) there, it may be that the woods has a reputation for being cursed with good reason after all.
Relationships: Estellise Sidos Heurassein & Yuri Lowell, Karol Capel & Yuri Lowell
Series: Folk Heroes [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2001439
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Into the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> The scene in the market place is about three weeks before the rest of the story. Also, there's no Entelexia in this verse, because I don't want the added complication. So blastia cores are made with some super secret process at aer krenes.

One of the things Yuri liked about his job was getting to visit the weekly farmer's market. It was in the citizen's quarter and always full of the most delicious foods. He'd pick up samples for determining what the week's menu would look like, head back to the Inn, discuss what needed to be purchased in bulk with Janice. It was fun getting to gossip with the farmers bringing in their wares and taste testing fresh fruits and vegetables. It kept Yuri appraised of how things were going outside of the protective barrier of Zaphias and a chance to make contacts outside of the city.

After the death of the Emperor, the political situation of the Empire was getting increasingly contentious. Other parts of the Empire might be unaware of the mounting tensions, but Zaphias was the capital city of the Empire and there was no escaping the quiet mutterings as the citizens and the knights began to polarize along the lines of the council, the heirs... or Commandant Alexei. None of which were appealing leaders, in Yuri's opinion. None of them were likely to give a damn about the people in the lower quarter, after all.

Still, things were safe enough and Yuri could continue to go about his usual market day. Until, as he was perusing strawberries and considering whether they were worth the price for making thumbprint shortbread cookies to sell as baked goods at the Inn, a shout went up in the crowded market place.

"STOP! THIEF!"

Of course, the market experience was never complete without at least one instance of a knight chasing after a thief. The knight this time around was from Cumore's brigade, well out of their usual haunt of the noble quarter. And the thief...

Just a kid, brown hair, bread clutched against his chest. Too small, too thin, too much desperate hunger written on the kid's face.

Yuri buys the strawberries and mentally maps out the market place. Then he heads off towards a different part of the market. The most likely path of a child evading a knight's arrest would, theoretically, take the kid back in this direction eventually...

And Yuri is proven right as the shouts head in Yuri's direction. This time Yuri grabs the kid as he passes by, pulling him into an alley and putting a hand around the kid's mouth to muffle any startled shouts. They wind up crouched behind some trash bins in an alleyway obscured by market stalls as the knight runs shrieking by.

Cautiously, Yuri releases his hold on the kid. "If he'd been in the Schwann brigade, I might've let the knight take you. They talk big, but faced with a scrawny underfed kid they'd feed you and try to find you a safe place to stay. The Cumore brigade beat thieves no matter their age." Yuri sighed and glanced mournfully at his basket of food and the strawberries he'd wanted to bake into thumbprint cookies. If he doesn't bring this food back to the Inn then the cost will come out of his paycheck.

Well... it wouldn't be the first time. Janice calls him a bleeding heart for a reason, he supposes.

Yuri hands the stunned kid his basket of food. "This'll make it easier for you to carry that bread too. I think this'll feed you and your friends better anyway."

"Who are you?" the kid finally demanded. "Why do you care?"

"Yuri," he said, not bothering with his surname. "I work at the Comet Inn. If you need help with anything, kid, come find me there. I can't guarantee I can help, but I can promise to try." There's no good answer for why he cares.

Honestly, Yuri's always just a little stunned and disappointed every time he finds out someone else doesn't.

There's a reason he couldn't hack it in the knights, after all.

"I'm Karol," the kid said, staring up at Yuri with wide eyes. "I promise, I'll pay you back for this one day."

"Sure thing, kid," Yuri muttered, more to himself than to the kid. The last of the money he'd been given for shopping might get him a few more strawberries he could use to convince Janice about the cookies. But she's definitely going to dock him on everything else. 

* * *

By the time they arrived at Deidon Hold, Estelle looks like she's about ready to drop. Yuri has to sling an arm around her shoulders to keep her walking in a straight line. But they're able to reserve a camp site within the safety of the Fort. He reluctantly leaves the Princess at their reserved plot with Repede. 

Repede'll take good care of the girl, of that Yuri has no doubt. Estellise... no, Estelle, he needs to remember to think of her by that name. The last thing he needs is to call her the wrong name out loud. Especially when he's the one who nicknamed her in the first place.

Estelle has shown a surprising level of endurance and practicality. But she didn't sleep last night and they could only stop for short breaks on the road to Deidon Hold. So hopefully she'd remember to keep her hair covered until they could dye it. A wig might be better, but they weren't likely to find one here.

Yuri headed up to the pop up stalls where traveling salesmen hawked their wares. He found another canteen of decent make almost immediately, which was a relief. He could fill both his and the new canteen on the way back to the camp. He considers the price of tents next. It might be better for them to share a tent and if the Princess has any objections, well, Yuri can always tell her he's gay. And it might be safer for her if people assume they're lovers anyway. 

He winds up buying a tent they can share. It'll be a tight fit for two people and a dog, but it would keep them out of the rain if necessary and break down small enough for Repede to carry comfortably. It would also offer Estelle a safe place to change the scarf hiding her hair. Speaking of which... 

The next items Yuri checks out are clothes. Estelle only has the one dress right now and it'd be best for her to have a second set of clothes. He finds a green dress that looks about her size - if not he isn't a half bad tailer and should be able to fix it himself. He gets a green and yellow patterned scarf to go with the dress. Sewing needles and thread are next. He should've thought to bring his own with him, but Yuri'd been in a rush to get her out of the city quickly. Needle and thread are quite likely not the only things he'll regret forgetting as time goes by.

Yuri looks for hair dye next, but his luck runs out.

Back at the campsite, Estelle has fallen asleep on her bedroll. She hadn't even unrolled it, just unhooked the thing from her pack and fallen asleep leaning against it. He checks that nothing's been stolen from her pack, but Repede had clearly been enough of a deterrent. 

So Yuri starts on the tent first, getting it set up before setting up the fire pit and making some toasted sandwiches over the flame. The smell rouses Estelle, who apologizes for falling asleep and is more enthusiastic about the sandwiches than they deserve considering they also had sandwiches (non-toasted) for lunch and apples for breakfast. She approves the dress Yuri picked out for her, but clearly loves the scarf.

The tent, however...

"So we're, uh, sharing?" she asked, uncertainly, keeping her voice hushed.

"It's big enough for us to lay down side by side with Repede between us and he's basically a furnace," Yuri replied airily. Then, more seriously, "we can take turns changing while the other is outside, but it might be safer if people assume we're lovers on a trip. No one who actually knows either of us would buy it, but that's because you're you and I'm gay, so..."

Estelle's whole face lit up. "So am I," she said, a blush covering her cheeks even as she pressed her hands to her face to hide behind her fingers. "Girls are just so pretty..."

"And guys are so very handsome," Yuri drawled, trying not to think of Flynn. He was mad at Flynn and the other man had never shown any hints of returning Yuri's interest. Instead he grinned at Estelle and when she giggled he laughed along with her. They hadn't really talked much during the long walk of the day, but they'd also both been very lost in their own thoughts. But maybe they had more in common than Yuri'd first assumed.

* * *

In the morning, Yuri checks on the state of the gate. The beasts on the Zaphias side of Deidon Hold are generally low level menaces, easily taken care of by guards on duty. But on the other side of Deidon Hold were plains that were known for some pretty nasty monsters. They shouldn't be too active this time of the year, but if the gates were down then Yuri and Estelle would be stuck on the wrong side since Halure was on the far side of the plains.

The gate, however, is up. Which would be better news if the knights on duty didn't have what looked to be photographs of the Princess on hand. And, unfortunately, the grainy black and white photos would make it all too easy for them to identify Estelle even with her hair covered.

Swearing under his breath, Yuri returned to their campsite and went back into the tent, shaking Estelle awake. "We've got a problem," he told her. "The knights have photographs of you. We can't go through the gate, so we're gonna need an alternate route." He retrieved his map and spread it out on the floor, girl and dog gathering around it with him. "It looks like if we detour north of here, we should be able to cut between the mountains here," he gestured to a forested area that led between the Northern Range and the Dual peaks. "It'll put us close to Halure too, so I don't think we'll lose too much time. Of course, if the knights at the Hold have pictures of you..."

"Then the knights stationed at Halure probably do too," Estelle filled in. "Which'll make it harder for us to wait for Flynn to make the rendezvous."

Yuri nodded. "One problem at a time, but... yeah."

"That's... the Quoi Woods, isn't it?" Estelle sounded worried now. "Those woods are said to be cursed."

"Even better. No one'll want to look for us there," Yuri responded brightly.

"Right..." Estelle was definitely nervous now. "And we don't have any other options. Okay. Are we going to have to sneak out of the hold?"

"Maybe, just keep your head down when we head out okay. We can hold hands, really sell that lover's on a journey angle." Yuri patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Wrap your hair back up and help me take down the tent; we can have another lovely apple breakfast before heading out."

"Okay. Yuri?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. You're risking so much..."

"Estelle... I used to be a knight and I quit because... of complicated reasons that don't really matter right now. The reason I joined the knights still stands. I want to protect people and keep them safe." And protecting Estelle might wind up helping protect the lower quarter in the long run. And Flynn had sent her to him. Flynn should have asked first, but even if he had... Yuri would've agreed without question.

He'd never been good at telling Flynn no.

* * *

The knights aren't checking people leaving the hold on the Zaphias side of the fort, but that doesn't mean they won't get recognized anyway. Estelle clutches Yuri's hand painfully tight, but he doesn't complain. 

Hiding their nerves as best they can, they walk out of the protected area around Deidon Hold. Yuri's as tense as Estelle is, waiting for the shouts of "Halt!" that never come. And he doesn't start breathing again until the sound of the fort fades away behind them. Only then do they leave the road and start the long walk towards the Quoi woods.

"We should play 'I spy'," Estelle offers after a little while. "Flynn taught me how to play and, well... it would help pass the time."

"Sure. You're idea, though, so you go first. And let's rule out generic things like grass, trees, and bushes." 

"Okay. The sky and clouds are out too."

"Too obvious," Yuri agreed. "Are we sticking to color clues or alphabet clues?"

"How about we start with colors? We can always switch it up later," Estelle offered.

"Sounds good to me."

"Okay, so..." Estelle hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "I spy something red. Not my dress," she added with a grin.

Yuri looked around and... "those flowers over there?" he asked, gesturing to a patch of wildflowers in bright reds and vivid purples.

"Nope!" Estelle grinned and shook her head. "Guess again."

"How about those cardinals in the trees over there?" Yuri had always wondered why the birds were called that.

"You got it," Estelle responded cheerfully.

"My turn then." Yuri looked around, spotting a blue-jay. He could come back to that if there was nothing else, but he didn't want to go with a bird immediately after Estelle had. More wildflowers caught his eye, though. Sunflowers blowing in the wind. "I spy something yellow."

The game kept them going until lunch time as they were finally entering a more heavily treed area, though not a proper woods yet. They probably wouldn't reach the true forest by nightfall; they'd need to setup camp and find a water source for the evening. Yuri could do some basic water cleansing with his blastia - if Estelle didn't know, he'd have to teach her. Since they both had blastias, they'd be able to set a watch barrier too. It wouldn't protect them, but it would wake them if something crossed the border. Yuri'd learned the arte in training with Flynn, though neither had been issued blastias after training ended and they were dispatched to Niren's brigade in Shizontania. 

The blastia Yuri had now used to belong to Niren. Technically it was property of the Knights and Yuri had stolen it, but officially the blastia was irretrievably lost along with Niren's body. So no one was looking. And it had come in handy in the lower quarter, making Yuri rather popular when a fountain's filtering system would go on the fritz. He was a lot rustier on the watch barrier - that required two people with separate blastias to pull off.

In the afternoon they discussed the rendezvous point where they were supposed to meet with Flynn. An old fountain plaza in Halure, tucked below the barrier tree, which was really three trees that had grown together over time, even absorbing the barrier blastia as they grew. The fountain's foundations were being slowly destroyed by the tree's root system, so it was a lesser used clean water source compared to other locations in the town. It was also possible to slip into the plaza without passing through the town, but Estelle only had her memories of the town's layout from a book containing maps of Imperial lands and holdings to fall back on when describing it to Yuri. And while she was confident she could find the plaza after entering Halure and following the town roads, she was less certain she could find it from the outside, where they'd have to climb over massive roots.

After the near disaster that Deidon Hold could have easily become, Yuri wanted to do better at Halure. Photography was a relatively new technology, but obviously the Alexei wasn't taking any chances with the usual hand drawn wanted posters. Covering up or dying her hair would be good enough for dealing with the regular citizenry, but if a knight who'd seen those photographs saw Estelle's face they'd be done for.

With any luck, the photographs wouldn't make it as far as Halure, but... there was no way to know for sure until they got there.

Absently, Yuri petted Repede. No need to go borrowing trouble. Not yet, anyway.

By nightfall, they arrived at what was definitely the start of the old Quoi Woods. There was a nearby stream and Estelle picked up on the water cleansing spell straight away. The watch barrier was more difficult since they had to work in tandem, but a few tries later and their camp for the night was surrounded by a decent sized ring of glittering light. Each instance of the arte lasted a different length, depending on the skill and compatibility of the casters and it could be difficult to judge, but Yuri was fairly certain their casting would last through the night. Certain enough that when he laid down to sleep, he was dreaming soon enough.

* * *

It was raining on their tent in the morning. A light drizzle that Yuri hoped with pass soon. It didn't pass by the time they'd had breakfast, however. It grew worse, becoming a storm. They stayed inside the tent, having to trust that anything dangerous outside would leave them alone.

While Yuri wouldn't have said so aloud, he couldn't help but feel like it was kind of a blessing in disguise, though, as both of them ached from all the walking. Neither was accustomed to the pace they'd marched at for the last two days and while the rain wasn't an ideal excuse for a break, it wasn't entirely unwelcome. 

They swapped stories about their childhoods as the day went on and the rain showed no signs of slowing. Estelle's stories sounded terribly lonely to Yuri, a childhood spent mostly isolated from her peers with books as her primary escape. Though she was an excellent story-teller as a result. Yuri stuck mostly to stories about his childhood after Finath gave Yuri a home. His time before that - both on the street and what led him there - wasn't something Yuri would ever feel comfortable sharing with anyone but Flynn. He did tell her a little about his time in the knights, though he steered away from the tragedy that had led to Shizontania's eventual abandonment.

Repede eventually allowed Estelle to pet him, much to the girl's delight. Though Yuri warned her that Repede was standoffish with new people and not to be too surprised if it took him a long time to stop ducking away from her outside of close quarters.

Otherwise, it was a slow day, stuck inside the small tent. Though the rain finally slowed as evening came, it didn't stop completely and they fell back asleep to the soft pattering of rain against their tent.

* * *

Morning number two at the foot of the Quoi Woods was damp and muddy, but not rainy. It occurs to Yuri at this point that he probably should've gotten Estelle some travel shoes at Deidon Hold, something sturdier than the flats she has on now. But it hadn't occurred to him at the time.

If Flynn had warned Yuri this would be headed his way, he could have had a bug out bag waiting for the arrival of a fleeing princess. He could have remembered things like extra blankets, which would have been nice when the rain chilled them in the tent the day before. He could have stocked up on travel supplies and thought of avoiding Deidon Hold ahead of time. He could have...

Yuri couldn't really stay on that train of thought for long before the desire to punch Flynn in the face started to creep back up on him. Probably not the best state of mind to be dismantling a tent in the mud in. But eventually their camp came down, all their things were secured, and the trio headed off into the Quoi Woods.

There was definitely something unnerving about the forest. Yuri would give it that. But cursed? No, there had to be a rational explanation for whatever it was that made people think the place was cursed.

Around lunch time, as Yuri and Estelle settled on a dry log in a mostly dry clearing for yet more sandwiches, Yuri heard the first signs of trouble. Rustling in the nearby bushes.

Drawing his sword left handed, Yuri carefully set his mostly finished sandwich atop his bag, gave Repede a sharp look that got an amused huff back in response, and carefully crept towards the noise. Repede dropped into a crouch and headed around the other way to help smoke whatever it was out of hiding.

A moment later... "A MONSTER!!!!!" shrieked a kid, jumping out of the bushes and falling to the ground, cowering beneath the point of Yuri's sword.

"L-let him go!" yelled another kid, a young girl with an oversized boomerang held awkwardly in her hands. Yuri doubted she'd be actual trouble to disarm, but...

The one on the ground was actually the more interesting of the two. He was also armed with a weapon that was far too big for him - it'd be too big for Yuri too, so Yuri at least had to admire the kid's determination if nothing else - not that the weapon was doing any good while he was still freaking out about the 'monster. But the kid looked familiar. Yuri knew he'd seen this kid somewhere before...

"Anyone else out there, Repede?" he called, ignoring the girl for the moment. Estelle had drawn her own sword to point at the kid, though she clearly didn't like it.

The dog ran back into view, knife drawn in his mouth. With a fancy little twirl, Repede sheathed his weapon and padded back over to stare at the last few bites of Yuri's sandwich. A few bites that Yuri doubted would still be waiting for him by the time he'd sorted this out.

"Kid, stop freaking out. It was just my dog." Taking a calculated risk Yuri sheathed his sword and offered the kid a hand up. "If you two were planning on stealing from us, I'm afraid we don't really have anything worth taking at the moment."

"Really? I mean, we're not... hey!" The kid's face lit up. "I remember you. You saved me from the knights a few weeks ago. And you gave me all that food. Remember, Nan? The strawberries I brought back?"

"Oh, right... Karol, yeah?" Yuri nodded to Estelle and she, too sheathed her weapon while the young girl with the boomerang reluctantly stood down as well.

Unlike Yuri, Estelle had a sandwich to finish. Repede didn't look repentant at all.

"You remember my name?"

"Yup. You remember mine, kid?" 

"Yuri. You work at the Comet Inn... what are you doing all the way out here?" Karol bounced excitedly. 

"We're headed for Halure," Estelle spoke up. "Hi, Karol, Nan. My name is Estelle."

"There's been some trouble in Zaphias recently, so I wouldn't recommend you visit there for a long while," Yuri told the kids. He exchanged a look with Estelle and she nodded. "You two hungry? We don't have a lot, but I think we can spare some for the two of you for lunch."

The two kids exchange looks and then accept the food. Karol with much more gusto than the suspicious Nan.

Nan's not exactly wrong to be suspicious, Yuri supposes. He trades information with the kids - what's up in Zaphias making it dangerous there while going light on the details and keeping Estelle out of it entirely. In exchange for his info he gets a lot more out of Karol like...

"Oh, yeah, you'd be better off going through Deidon Hold. I know the Quoi Woods is, like, supposed to be the fastest route to Halure these days, but there's a giant monster in the pass between the mountains and no safe way through. It's why we've been having to go the longer distance to Zaphias for supplies instead of Halure and Aspio."

And...

"I mean, there's only six of us now..." 

"Karol! Shut. up," Nan hissed, elbowing the other kid.

"Are you really all just children?" Estelle asked, horrified.

Yuri suspected he'd just walked into a new problem getting Estelle out of the forest. Aside from the giant monster, which was hopefully just an exaggeration... no way the princess was going to abandon six kids to live a thief's life out in the Quoi Woods. 

"Right, well we don't have a whole lot of choice about the Quoi Woods right now. Deidon Hold is no safer than Zaphias. So maybe I can help out with that monster problem," Yuri offered. "It'd open you guys back up to Halure and Aspio..."

"That thing is huge," Karol objected while Nan interrupted him with, "I'll take you there. But you won't do any good. I hate to agree with Karol on this, but... it's too much for one person, even if you are as good a swordsman as you think you are."

"I'm not to shabby myself," Estelle insisted. "And Repede's good in a fight, right Yuri?"

"He sure is," Yuri agreed. Even if the dog was a bit of a thief himself. "We're not going to fight it right now," Yuri assured Nan. "I just want to get a good look at it."

"That part of the forest was awful to begin with," Karol reported as the group of five started walking deeper into the woods. "It was like the air itself would get thick and hard to breathe and this weird mist would come out of this old blastia down there."

Yuri had a sinking feeling about the monster now. "The air was thick as in the air we breathe or the aer as in the source of magic?" Yuri asked for clarification.

"If it's the basis of magic," Estelle added, "then that would explain the mist. Sometimes blastia that have been broken but still have their cores can malfunction and output highly concentrated aer. This aer can be dangerous to the local wildlife and any humans around, as it can cause shortness of breath, dizziness, and eventually cause a person to pass out or even suffocate to death. I've read about the effects of thick aer - it's what makes aer krenes so dangerous for core researchers. I... I think I could deactivate the malfunctioning blastia. Or if its core is in reach, we could just remove it."

"The problem is, out of control aer has some other effects," Yuri said quietly. "At Shizontania, a research experiment went wrong outside of the town. It caused plant growth to turn strange and created... unusual monsters." Giant monsters. Only those monsters had been no accident...

Better not to scare the kids, though, and Yuri included Estelle in that statement. "So that might be what happened to this giant monster of yours."

"Can aer really do all that?" Nan sounded fascinated.

"It's the source of life but, like everything else, too much can become a bad thing. We need water to live, yet too much can drown a person," Yuri told her.

Nan nodded thoughtfully.

The deeper they went in the woods, the more the foreboding feeling Yuri'd been experiencing got worse. It was like there was a pressure bearing down on him and, indeed, it was getting a little harder to breathe. And a little harder to keep his thoughts here and now and not following behind his captain into the little laboratory of horrors...

When they finally stopped, they were looking down a short cliff to a giant monster below. Some kind of overgrown Eggbear, but with a slick, oily looking crack running down its back. Oh, yeah, this was definitely on the way to turning into something not unlike the monsters from Shizontania. Yuri was not pleased to have confirmation these things could be naturally occurring. Well, as natural as could possible when affected by an abandoned blastia.

"What about the blastia? If we can turn that off, it'd make this thing easier to fight," Yuri pointed out. He'd need some time to come up with a plan, but if they could at least turn off the blastia then his head might clear and take the haze that wanted to panic, just a little, in his chest along with it.

"It's over there," Karol pointed to a barely visible white block with a pink core. The whole thing was covered in ivy, but the core was still exposed. Not bad, if not for the angry, gigantic monster raging beside it. 

The damn thing was too far gone to realize the cause of it's mounting pain was right there next to it. 

It's also noticed them by now, lumbering towards them and scrabbling at the rock face. There's no traction for it to climb yet, but Yuri would rather not take the chance. 

"Let's get out of here," he said, letting Nan take point. 

"It can sense when anyone is nearby," Karol said. "We don't really know how, though. Even if we try to go around quietly, it'll come after us."

"It's probably the blastia," Estelle mused. "According to what I've read, when a monster starts to mutate like that one, it's instinct flip around. The barriers work because they put out a sort of... signal that repels certain kinds of animals. It's a pretty complex calibration so that they don't repel people or dogs or... well, anyway, not important. What is important is that animals with this kind of aer sickness start seeking out the strongest source of aer in the area. Which would explain why it's living next to the broken blastia. But all living creature actually contain a unique aer signature. Combined with a personal blastia, it's how we use artes. But a human with a blastia is going to have a raised aer presence..."

"As will groups of people with no blastia," Yuri filled in. "And if what I saw at Shizontania is any indication, when they've become unrecognizable they start eating aer sources. So eventually it's going to eat that core and go looking for the next highest concentration of aer in the area. Which would probably be Halure."

Assuming it didn't go after the kids before then.

"You can stay at our camp while you figure out what to do next," Karol offered while Nan kicked his ankle. He winced, but otherwise ignored her. 

"Thanks, kid." Yuri sighed. He and Estelle had enough food to last the next few days, but they definitely needed to get to Halure soon. Though... there was an idea building at the back of Yuri's mind. Something about that core... the size of it... could maybe come in handy somewhere else, couldn't it?

* * *

"You're thinking of fighting that monster still, aren't you?" Estelle asked quietly as they had dinner that evening. Yuri had put together some of their food with the kid's provisions and turned a little into a lot of stew. 

The kids ranged from ages eight to thirteen with Nan being the eldest. Karol was only twelve. The other four were eight, nine, nine-and-a-half (and at that age the half mattered a great deal), and ten. 

And Yuri couldn't stand the thought of leaving these kids behind in a forest with something rapidly turning into an Adephagos, or whatever the hell those things were actually called. He still had nightmares about the one at Shizontania and the other grotesque, mutated things that had lived in Garista's lab. Hell, he was probably going to have nightmares tonight and wouldn't that be fun, scaring Estelle and the kids if he screamed in his sleep?

What she'd said about reading about monsters with aer sicknes... it explained what the Adephagos experiment had been about, Yuri supposed. Creating monsters out of aer to sic on enemies of the Empire. Or just enemies of Alexei. 

It had taken the entire brigade to put down the monsters in Garista's lab. But then there'd been several, and the flying thing that was apparently the final stage of mutation had still escaped to attack the town, damaging the barrier blastia's body and irradicating the core. The blastia body itself would've been an easy repair, but a core of the size required for a barrier blastia required years to synthesize at an aer krene. It had been decided that Shizontania would be evacuated and recolonized at a later date when a core of the appropriate size was available.

Yuri'd helped with the evacuations and then quit immediately afterwards. He hadn't been the only one, either.

What they'd seen there... that wasn't the actions of the Empire they had signed up to protect.

"I'm thinking that eventually that thing is going to come after these kids. If we turn off the blastia or remove the core, it'll go after Halure pretty much immediately, though. Any brigade stationed there should be able to handle this thing, but... that assumes there's a brigade stationed there."

"There should be," Estelle objected.

"You're right. There should be. But Alexei's been reorganizing troop movements for months, preparing for this coup. But it's more than that. The experiments at Shizontania point at something else."

"Experiments..." Estelle's eyes widened. "The monster that attacked the city wasn't there by accident, was it?"

"No. And it wasn't the only one there, either. And I'd bet anything he's stockpiling weapons grade blastias too. He might be planning to use them for a civil war, but I doubt it. Those monsters are city killers; you don't unleash that on the place where you live. You point them at your enemies homes."

"You think he's planning another war... with the Republic?" Estelle covered her mouth, horrified.

"Or any other nation that refuses to bow before Alexei's will." Yuri shook his head. "We have to defeat him now, before he marches the imperial army into another war that can't be taken back if Alexei's deposed too late."

Estelle's mouth opened to say something else, but she was cut off by a voice at the edge of their camp. "Hey kiddos, you got room for one more? I've got my own dinner, just want a nice warm fire to sleep by if you don't mind?"

The group turned to face a man standing just inside the firelight of the campfire. Hands raised and a friendly - if somewhat sly - expression on the man's face. He looked to be at least a decade older than Yuri, if not two, and a little scruffy in his bright purple clothes. There was a short sword at his side and quiver over his shoulder along with, presumably, a bow.

And there was something very familiar about the guy, though Yuri couldn't quite place him at the moment.

"The name's Raven, by the way."

* * *

Yuri wasn't any more thrilled about adding Raven to their camp than Nan was, but Karol and Estelle and the rest of the kids welcomed him in. He was also looking to take a shortcut to Halure and took Yuri's report on the gigantic eggbear a little more seriously than Karol's claims of a monster.

"I'm good in a fight, though I'd rather not take something like that on if I don't have to. What about you two?" Raven asked.

"I could help, if Yuri plans to fight it. I'm good with a sword," Estelle insisted.

"I'm sure you are, but have you ever actually killed something in a fight before?" Yuri asked.

"I... no. And you're really asking if I can handle doing that, aren't you?" Estelle took a shaky breath and exhaled slowly. "I think, to protect these children, I could. But there's no way to find out unless I try."

"We'd do better with three attacking and a fourth on support, but two on offence and one on support wouldn't be so bad if that dog of yours were to run interference for the lady here," Raven offered. "What's your healing spells look like?"

"Pretty good. I've nurse training, so I know all the first aid artes, along with several meant to increase the effectiveness of attacks or the stamina of a fighter." Estelle looked determined in the firelight.

"I can help too!" Karol interrupted, settling down by the adults and giving them a stubborn look. "I can, I have a blastia too." He showed them his bag. "I, um... I'm still learning how to use it after I acquired it a few months ago, but..."

"Looks like an old knights bag for carrying secret troop messages during the war," Raven observed. "It's pretty easy to repurpose for fighting though. Even better for support."

Yuri gave the old man a look but he just shrugged.

"The best way to get a kid determined to fight to go around your back and fight anyway is to tell 'em no," Raven observed.

"If you can learn support spells from Estelle, you can do those at a distance. The distance will give you a better view of the fighting to determine who needs healing and who needs a stamina boost. And having you on support means Estelle can switch between support and offence as needed," Yuri finally agreed, though letting the kid fight in any capacity made him want to stab something, repeatedly.

"Then I'm going too. Karol won't need that dog of yours protecting him if I'm there," Nan said. The other kids, at least, seemed to have gone to sleep for the night. "My weapon has a blastia built into it."

That actually made Yuri feel a little better. "If something goes wrong," Yuri told her, "you grab Karol and you run."

"Hey!" Karol spluttered, while Nan nodded seriously.

"Won't bother to look for you afterwards," she warned.

For the best, really.

* * *

"It was good timing, showing up when you did," Yuri observed in the morning as he and Raven put together breakfast and Estelle helped Nan and Karol corral the kids.

"Yeah, well, I had to make myself scarce around Zaphias and Deidon Hold ain't exactly friendly to those who aren't fond of the Commandant's new regime at the moment," Raven offered. "Not a fan of the council's either, but let's just say it's assumed if you're against one, then you gotta be for the other."

"I know what you mean." Yuri hoped Raven would assume that was why he and Estelle were going through the woods too.

"So, do you really think we can take down that monster you saw yesterday?" Raven asked.

Yuri nodded slowly. "I have a plan. And it's not necessarily a good plan, but one I think we have a decent chance of making work."

"Well, kiddo, I'm all ears. Lay it on me."

So Yuri explained. And as he did, a slow smile curved onto Raven's face. "That is a thing of beauty. Or it will be if your strategy pays off. Well, let's hurry up with breakfast and head on out."

* * *

Yuri's strategy is actually pretty simple. Estelle and Karol load everyone up on support artes, making their blades sharper, as well as their focus. The cliff face that Yuri and the others had used to look down on the eggbear wasn't actually the only one in the area. There was another one behind the overgrown remains of a plaza that must have once surrounded the broken barrier blastia. It's Yuri, Estelle, Raven, and Repede's job to drive the monster towards that ravine. Meanwhile Karol and Nan use the lookout point to continue using support artes from. Both of them had picked up on the basic first aide spell that Estelle had taught them that morning, fixing skinned knees and scrapes on the other kids for practice.

The difficult part was driving a monster twice their height into taking a hopefully deep enough drop to kill it. Especially with a blastia outputting clouds of condensed aer chipping away at the arte enhanced stamina.

So Estelle was supposed to make her way to the blastia and remove the core while Repede covered her, then rejoin the others once the core was out. Raven had artes for exploding arrows that he was supposed to aim at the eggbear's face while Yuri went after the thing's feet, making it too painful to stay in one place. It'd have to fall back until there was no where to turn to and then... just fall.

And once they started, the plan did seem to be going well enough. Yuri and Raven made a good team - and there was something oddly familiar about fighting with the old man, but Yuri still couldn't place him - while Estelle successfully removed the core.

Yuri could feel the pressure on his chest lighten almost immediately once the core was out. It didn't really lower the ambient aer in the... well... air, but it meant there wasn't a continuous addition to that aer. It could finally start dispersing.

Unfortunately, the core's removal only served to enrage the beast. And it shoved back, hard.

Yuri landed on his back and rolled to avoid the swipe of its claws and flipped back to his feet as fast as he could, aiming a few artes at the nearest leg. Estelle and Repede rushed in to join Yuri while Raven exploded a few more arrows in its face, but Yuri knew Raven had to be running low by now. They needed the monster to be right on the edge of the ravine before Raven used up his last arrow...

Suddenly Raven was shouting for them to fall back and the three of them did, right as an arrow exploded at the eggbears feet. The thing shrieked in rage, a noise that held an undercurrent of otherness beneath the veneer of the creature it used to be.

And then it was falling.

The resulting crash below made Yuri wince in sympathy and then he was scrambling to look over the edge. How deep was the ravine? Had the fall been enough to kill it after all?

There was no mistaking the results of the fight, however. Far, far below - almost out of sight in the shadows - the eggbear lay dead.

"We got it," Yuri said, shaking a little from the adrenaline rush. Then, louder, he let out a victorious whoop. "We got it!" He stood up and waved to Karol and Nan above. "It's dead and the blastia is depowered. You and the other kids should be a little safer from now on, okay?"

"We can't just leave them," Estelle hissed and Yuri grimaced at the realization that her scarf had come off in the fight.

Raven could see her hair.

"You're going to want to wrap that lovely scarf back up on your head, miss," Raven said, having retrieved the scarf himself.

Nervously, Estelle took the scarf from Raven and covered her hair back up. "Thank you..."

"Don't worry about it, Miss Estelle. You've my word, you're in no danger from me." Raven gave her a little bow and then a hand up off the ground.

There was no helping it now, Yuri supposed. And if Raven proved untrustworthy... Yuri would deal with it. For now, though... he went to retrieve the blastia core. "We won't be able to convince the kids to come with us right now, Estelle, and we need to go to Halure to meet our friend there. But I've got an idea that might just help those kids out... and maybe give us a safe place to plan the fight against Alexei too."

**Author's Note:**

> I'd initially intended to end this the moment Raven arrived, but it just wouldn't come to a natural stop there... so they ended up fighting the giant eggbear here instead.
> 
> Yuri may have been out of the knights for a while now, but he has been keeping an eye on things in Zaphias and paid close attention to the explanations for what happened in Shizontania. Both to what was, and what wasn't, being said.
> 
> The next two stories for this series should be focused on Flynn and what's been going on with him (and possibly Ioder too?) and something to do with Rita. I'm still putting my notes together on those.


End file.
